On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 9:08 AM, Jules Bean<jules at jellybean.co.uk> wrote:
> I don't find layout a problem, with good editor support. I agree it's a
> problem, with poor editor support. That's all I meant.
Let's put this issue in perspective. For those few Haskell
programmers that do find layout irritating, I'm sure we would all
agree it's but a minor irritation. The real downside of layout is if
non-Haskell programmers use it as an excuse to dismiss the language.
I happen to think that Data Parallel Haskell has great potential for
use in high performance computations. I'd hate to see a bunch of
Fortraners not try DPH because of Haskell syntax.
In terms of irritating programmers, I think Wirth takes the cake.
After advancing the art with Pascal, he correctly saw its lack of
modules as a problem, and he solved the issue with the Modular-2
programming language. He made the improvement, but also required
programmers to type keywords in all caps! I tried Modular-2 and
quickly tired of using the caps lock key. Maude has this problem too.
Very irritating.
John